GSPCB issues closure directions to 27 units operating without consent to operate

The pollution control body informs the High Court about the action taken against units causing noise pollution

Published on:

09 Aug 2024, 1:07 am

PORVORIM: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has in an affidavit submitted to the Bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa that closure directions have been issued to twenty seven units operating without consent to operate.

Amongst the 27 units identified by GSPCB, 11 are operating in Anjuna, nine units in Vagator, four units in Assagao, one unit in Chapora, one in Ozrant and one on Anjuna–Siolim road.

The Collector and District Magistrate North Goa has been intimated through a letter dated 22/07/2024 from GSPCB that “closure directions should be strictly implemented and a compliance report in this regard be submitted to the Board.”

Reacting to application dated 2/02/2024 filed in contempt petition No 12/2023 in PIL WP No 7/2021 (Desmond Alvares V/s the State of Goa and ors) the GSPCB letter to the Collector and District Magistrate (North Goa) stated: “It is alleged that a number of units are operating and are causing noise pollution.”

Three of the four units are located in Anjuna and one is in Vagator.

Raeeth in Vagator, Neomeso Pvt Ltd (Mayan Beach Club) in Anjuna, Ziki Restaurant, Anjuna and M/s Sonic in Anjuna are the four units that GSPCB has written to the Collector that closure directions be strictly implemented.

The GSPCB also issued rejection and closure directions to four other units whose applications were incomplete as per the affidavit filed before the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court.

M/s Elephant Bach café in Anjuna had applied on 21/05/2024 for consent to operate to GSPCB and the latter had raised queries regarding: A) enter house no in address; B) enter proper seating capacity ; C) enter SWM details ;D) upload health NOC; e) renewed Panchayat license; F) site plan; G)kindly clarify if the unit falls in CRZ area or no.”

“Whereas, upon perusal of Board records, it has been observed that your unit has failed to reply the query raised on OCMMS and is hereby close/suspend the operation of your unit until further orders,” reads the GSPCB order to the unit.

M/s Amnivu in Anjuna was through a letter dated 22/07/2024 intimated by GSPCB that it, “is operating without obtaining the Consent to Operate of the Board as required under the Water (Prevention and control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

Applications for Consent to Operate of two units – M/S Sake in Assagao and M/s Noah in Ozrant in Anjuna , opposite the Anjuna Police Station – according to the information provided by GSPCB to the High Court , are pending before the Board.

“Some action is better than nothing. It is obvious that the judges of the High Court have been able to get these government bodies who were behaving dead, now acting,” reasoned contempt petitioner Desmond Alvares.

“I myself have submitted to the High Court videos of places like Noah playing loud music till early morning and the GSPCB is now claiming to the High Court that their application for Consent to Operate is pending,” claimed Alvares.

Controversial Curlies will be demolished soon

Owner Edwin Nunes, the owner of Curlies shack seeks more time as demolition “held up due to rains”; GSPCB had informed the High Court in a contempt hearing on August 1 that Curlies was one of the 27 units to have been served closure directions because it had no consent to operate

ANJUNA: The owner of the controversial Curlies nightclub, Edwin Nunes on Thursday said that he would soon dismantle the structure, after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dismissed an appeal regarding demolition order against the club by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) for violating CRZ norms.

“I am dismantling the whole place. Work of dismantling was delayed because of the rains. I just need a few more days,” Nunes said.

Disposing an appeal filed by owner Linet Nunes, the NGT bench of Dinesh Kumar Singh and Dr Vijay Kulkarni called the evidence, submitted by the owner that a structure was in existence prior to 1991, the year the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification came into existence, as unsubstantiated, inconclusive or downright fabricated.

In a detailed 29-page order pronounced on May 31, 2024, a bench

comprising Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and Dr Vijay Kulkarni dismissed Nunes’ appeal, finding the claims about Curlies’ existence prior to 1991 to be unsubstantiated.

“We relied upon a technical report of the project prepared by Remote Sensing Instruments, Hyderabad, which did not show any existence of structure prior to 1991 in survey no 42/10 and that was treated to be conclusive proof of the fact that no structure existed prior to 1991 and hence the appeal was dismissed,” read part of the judgment of the review application.

“Considering the above, we are of the view that no variation is

required to be there in the judgment, review of which is sought by the appellant (Linet Nunes, sister of Edwin Nunes) in the present

application. We do not find force in the review application. Accordingly, it is rejected,” concluded the judgment.

In 2016, a case for the demolition of Curlies was filed in the GCZMA.

Nunes, thereafter, filed an appeal with the NGT in Pune, which was dismissed and the owners were served a demolition notice on September 8, 2023.

It was then alleged by Nunes’ advocates that the government machinery arrived to demolish the structures on September 9. As work on demolition was on, a Supreme Court stay order gave Nunes some reprieve. The demolition work which was stopped at mid-day resumed in the evening and nearly 75 per cent was razed down.

Demolition of work on structure in Survey No 42/10 was halted as the stay order of the Supreme Court was on structures in this area.

Structures in survey no 42/11 and 42/9 were demolished.

The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) had informed the High Court in a contempt hearing on August 1 that Curlies was one of the 27 units to have been served closure directions because it had no consent to operate. The unit was operating as Sealounge by Curlies.

Apart from being a high-end party spot, Curlies grabbed attention after Haryana BJP leader Sonali Phogat happened to attend a party there, before she was found dead in her room far away from the place. In 2008, Curlies shared media glare after British teenager Scarlet Keeling was found dead on Anjuna beach - though not close to the restaurant.

“Curlies had always been in the news because it was one place that saw the high and mighty of India visiting it and as such was never touched by the law. It was a fun place with no boundaries,” claimed local Clement Dias.

“I will be seeking some relief from the courts once the dismantling work is over. It is too early to disclose anything now,” said a confident Nunes.